Random #1

Iam creating a repository of some good links on world wide web. Herez the first edition:

1. Celebrity Maps
Hey where does Pamela Andreson live? The question is about to be answered.. unleashing Celebrity maps which combines the power of google maps with celebrity address found across the web.

2. Guess-The-Google
Guess-The-Google is a simple web application in which a grid of images is displayed and the user has to guess the keyword which when entered in google image search will give the same result as is appearing on the grid. Simple but very addictive!

3. Protopage
Protopage provides you free personal start pages. You can have list of your favourite links, some sticky notes, panel amalgamating all search engines. This is how moronz start page looks like.

4. 10 ways to keep updated about new Google services
Google is officially releasing a new product every six days, and a new google rumor cuts the blogosphere’s fresh air every couple of hours. How to keep tabs on all the happenings? Click on the link to find out more.

5. Cool Animation
Click on the link to check out a very nifty and impressive animation.

6. Rtm86
A website made up of only images. Very innovative and very original!

7. Don't Click It
This site is making waves with HCI aficionado's. This site aims to remove the entire concept of mouse clicking.. interesting, isn't it?

Stay tuned for more such randomness.

Cheers!

Did you get an e-mail from FBI?

This is the question that is doing the rounds today in the computer society worldwide. This is because a mass e-mail purportedly from the FBI is circulating online, carrying with it an attachment that contains a variant of the Sober computer virus.

ComputerWorld reports of this fake e-mail scam:

In an announcement today, the FBI advised computer users that the agency never sends unsolicited e-mails and that they should not open the attachments in the fraudulent messages. The scam e-mail tells recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI and that they have accessed illegal Web sites, according to the FBI. The e-mails, which are sent from e-mail addresses including mail@fbi.gov, post@fib.gov and admin@fbi.gov, then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions.

The text of the fake e-mails says: “We have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites. Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached.” The messages then include a fake name of an FBI official and the real address and phone number of the agency.

No information was available early today on how many of the e-mails might have been sent or how many computer users might have launched the viruses on their machines. The FBI said it “takes this matter seriously and is investigating” the scheme. Recipients of the fake messages are being asked to report them online to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Hmm.. seems like even, FBI are vulnerable!

Google Base up and running

Yesterday Google officially released Google Base. Google Base is a place where you can easily submit all types of online and offline content that google will host and make searchable online. Google Base enables content owners to easily make their information searchable online. Anyone, from large companies to website owners and individuals, can use it to submit their content in the form of data items. Google will host the items and make them searchable for free.

Google says "our goal is to organize the world's information and make it universally useful and accessible, and the world's information certainly includes almost anything you might wish to contribute. We encourage you to submit your item, whether it's your store inventory, collection of original poetry, or research paper on cancer receptors."

You can read more about google base at google's official blog but Iam off to try my hands at google base first hand.. you coming?

Cheers!

The 8 basic steps of Image Editing

Tweaking around with images is always fun but not everyone's cup of tea. To help dolts like me Matt LeClair author of Oreilly’s, “Photoshop in a Nutshell” has written an article explaining the very basic steps of Image Editing. Author claims that this article will also help you to understand how to use Photoshop’s tools together.

Know, The 8 basic steps of Image Editing and manipulate digitally your way to glory.

Cheers!

The Great Indian Dream aka CAT

The Great Indian Dream is left shattered.. shattered Big Time..

One year long fucking journey to 20th November ended in a huge disaster. Iam left depressed, demoralised and rejected. Life cannot be any more fucking full of shit! Hope the imprints of this Black Sunday are erased from my memory soon..

Letz go sightseeing

Want to go to exotic locations?
Getting in touch with Cox & Kings or SOTC?

No need!, Google Sightseeing offers you the pleasure of roaming around the world from the comfort of your own computer. It is an intelligent and innovative extension exploiting Google's excellent Maps technology.

Google Sightseeing is not a part of Google Maps or even sponsored by Google, it simply links to the data found there, but is an excellent way to quickly locate many of the most popular tourist destinations in the world via satellite images from Google Maps.

So try out Google Sightseeing, meanwhile Iam off to a virtual tour of NYC!

Cheers!

Take on Project Management

By any chance did you ever think that Project Management is a highly systematic and specialized thing? If yes, then your illusion is about to be eliminated..

In case you can't read:

Pic 1: How the costumer explained it
Pic 2: How the project leader understood it
Pic 3: How the analyst designed it
Pic 4: How the programmer wrote it
Pic 5: How the business consultant described it
Pic 6: How the project was documented!!
Pic 7: What operations installed
Pic 8: How the costumer was billed
Pic 9: How it was supported
Pic 10: WHAT THE COSTUMER REALLY NEEDED

Cheers!

World Usability Day: Making it easy

Today, Novemeber 3 is celebrated as the World Usability Day. World Usability Day promotes the value of usability engineering, user-centered design, and every user's responsibility to ask for things that work better. The Usabililty Professionals' Association is doing that by encouraging, organizing, and sponsoring 36 hours of activities at the local level around the globe, all occurring on November 3, 2005.

Staying put on the same topic of usability, here is a piece of article, which says India is short of 60,000 usability professionals.

Stop It

Stop it Pakistan..
Stop the terrorism..
Stop disturbing our peace..
When will you stop this blood bath?

A series of explosions rocked Delhi yesterday evening, killing at least 55 people and leaving many injured, some of them critically. Terrorist planted these bombs at very strategic locations targeting innocent people doing their last minute Diwali/Eid shopping. Blasts took place at busy South Delhi Markets of Sarojini Nagar and Govindpuri and in Central Delhi at Paharganj market. Fortunately, bomb in Chandni Chowk area was diffused. Market areas of Paharganj and Sarojini Nagar were reported to be choc-a-bloc with shoppers doing their last minute purchases for Diwali, just a few days away. The blasts are suspected to be the handiwork of banned Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba outfit.

Without any reports or evidence, I have blatantly blamed Pakistan for the serial bomb blast that has rocked the capital city of India. I don't know why, but immediately after hearing this news, I couldn't control my anger against them and their act of sponsoring terrorism. They have continously stabbed our genuine efforts of peace building measures. Their terrorist stormed into our parliament, they unnecessarily bought up Kargil and are wholly responsible for turning beautiful valley of Jammu & Kashmir into terrorist haven. A stupid advise to top honchos of our country, stand up, get the forces in order and demolish this sick country, so that we can live in peace..

I apologize for my outburst, but terrorism is turning to be a huge menace to the society. They have turned the festive season of Diwali into days of grief and sorrow.

Readers, I didn't mean to hurt any sentiments. Well to digress from this topic, FYI, I am taking a sabbatical from blogging for few days as Iam heading to my home town, Delhi for Diwali, to be with my parents, brother and friends. But yesterday's event will have a bearing on how this festival will be celebrated this year. Wishing all a very happy diwali and at the same expressing grief over the incident and praying that affected people get well soon and the city comes out of chaos soon.

Arpit.

Human Clock

I always thought machines were replacing humans. But alas, I have been proven wrong. A very unique clock has emerged on webscape recently; our good ol' mechanical clock is being replaced by the human clock! Oh, you credulous soul, have a look below:

The Human Clock is a collection of photographs and images made by people from all over the world to signify each minute in the 24-hour clock. The pictures vary between people holding up signs with the time on them, to photographs of every day objects made to look like the time. Charm of this clock is unthinkable and it is really fascinating to see all the different types of entry. Yesterday, I spend more than 1 hour checking all the entries and now this site is my official time-piece!

So what say, wanna check time on human clock?

Cheers.

What exactly is this RSS?

RSS is a new web technology that helps online users manage the flood of information in cyberspace. RSS, these days is one of the latest buzzword on internet. Many tech savvy users or "geeks" might be aware of it, but for rest of the dolts, here is a quick FAQ on RSS, courtesy ABC News:

1. What is RSS?

RSS is a new way to publish information online. Depending on who you ask, RSS stands for either "Rich Site Summary" or "Really Simple Syndication." At the heart of the technology is special Web coding, called XML, that has been widely developed by the global online community over the past few years.The XML code for RSS describes a new type of Web information called a "news feed." Essentially, the feeds can contain a summary and links of the new content on a Web site or anything else a creator desires to share. Anyone — an online surfer or another Web site — can pick up the RSS codes and with the appropriate Web software display the information automatically. The concept is similar to how a newswire service operates: Information published by one news organization can be "syndicated" — picked up and displayed — by any other news organization.

2. What Does RSS Mean for Web Site Publishers?

Through syndication, online content creators have a much easier way to get their information published and seen. By supplying the RSS code on the Web site, visitors can "subscribe" to the feed and automatically receive updates on their personal computers of new content on the site. Such an RSS feed will free content creators from creating and sending e-mail reminders — many of which may be stopped by anti-spam filters.

3. Why Would Ordinary Web Users Like RSS?

For Web surfers, the advantages of RSS are quite simple: They save time and bandwidth. Instead of remembering to visit a favorite Web site, the news comes directly into your computer daily or at whatever interval you want. What's more, most RSS feeds contain just links, headlines or brief synopsis of new information only. That means the small amount of Web data can be sent to any XML-compatible device — a cell phone, pager or handheld computer — without a lengthy download process. More importantly, RSS gives you control over receiving information you want without revealing information about yourself. Unlike subscribing to an e-mail newsletter, you never have to give out your e-mail address with an RSS feed. That avoids the possibility of receiving spam or unwanted junk e-mail from the Web site.

4. What Do I Need to Receive RSS Feeds?

First, you need a so-called feed reader. Performing a search for "RSS Feed Readers" in any major online search engine such as Google.com or Yahoo! will produce a slew of software options — many of which are free or at little cost. Once you've obtained a feed reader, subscribing to an RSS feed is as simple as looking for the appropriate XML code. Most Web sites that publish an RSS feed will display a tiny orange box or button labeled "RSS" or "XML." Click the button and your Web browser typically goes to a page of cryptic code. Just copy the Web "address" or URL of that page and plug it into your feed reader. The software will then automatically retrieve and display that site's latest information.

Thatz all to know about RSS, guess now you are ready to conquer the information world!!

Cheers.

Apple gets sued over iPod nano scratches

Unhappy iPod Nano customers are taking Apple to court over scratching issues they have experienced with their players. The suit, filed in a U.S. District Court in San Jose, alleges the screens scratch even during normal usage, "causing Plaintiff class members to incur loss of use and monetary damages." The suit is the latest in a string of headaches for Apple over the device. Scratching problems have been the most common complaint from users, although several had screen breakage issues that Apple dismissed as a "quality control issue."

The lawsuit asks for damages including the retail price of the iPod Nano, statutory and punitive damages, and attorney's fees. Furthermore, the class action members want a portion of the Nano's profits.

Apple has repeatedly dismissed the scratching issue. "A few vocal customers are saying that their iPod nano is more susceptible to scratching than prior iPods," the company said previously. "The iPod nano is made with the same high-quality polycarbonate plastic as the fourth-generation iPod."The suit disagrees with this assessment, and suggests that Apple was attempting to profit off of the issue. "Rather than admit the design flaw when consumers began to express widespread complaints about the screen's propensity to scratch easily and excessively, Apple concealed the defect and advised class members that they would need to purchase additional equipment to prevent the screen from scratching excessively," the complaint alleges.

Click here for related article.

Few Internet Deception Methods

It is a well known fact that consumers' ability to spot fraud in the Internet is still not very good. Even savvy users sometimes falter against the newest scam. What are the possible Internet Decpetion Methods? Here is a list of few:

• Phishing: (also carding and spoofing) is a form of social engineering, characterized by attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an apparently official electronic communication, such as an email or an instant message. The term phishing arises from the use of increasingly sophisticated lures to "fish" for users' financial information and passwords.
  

• Pharming: is the exploitation of a vulnerability in the DNS server software that allows a hacker to acquire the Domain Name for a site, and to redirect that Web site's traffic to another Web site.

• Page-jacking and mouse-trapping: are techniques used by scammers to divert Internet users from their intended Web destination (page-jacking) to the scammers site from which the user is unable to leave using their browsers back, forward or even close buttons (mouse-trapping).

Click here to read the article, Fine-tuning your Internet deception detectors.

Arpit.

Letz track her

Worried, your wife is cheating on you?

Want to know where your daughter is late at night?

Forget-me-not panties answers all these questions. These panties have built-in GPS and unique sensor technology which can help give you her location, and even her temperature and heart rate, and she will never even know it's there! Unlike the cumbersome and uncomfortable chastity belts of the past, these panties are 100% cotton, and use cutting-edge technology to help you protect what matters most.

Want to order one? Or have a look at people's view of this amazing device.

Cheers.

| WetNoodle

Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes

Jakob Nielsen, often referred as the usability guru, has addressed usability issues concerning weblogs. According to him,

Weblogs are often too internally focused and ignore key usability issues, making it hard for new readers to understand the site and trust the author.

Click here to read the top ten design mistakes concerning weblogs, which will enable you to put your blog for a usabiltiy test.

President Kalam warns against Google Earth

Google Earth puts a planet's worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop and ever since its launch, has become one of the most popular services on the internet.

But many top government officials are wary of this service. Recently, Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has joined the list of government officials charging that the geographic details provided by Google Earth's satellite imaging program pose a security risk. "Developing countries, which are already in danger of terrorist attacks, have been singularly chosen." Kalam said.

While addressing the nation's top police officers at the Vallabhabhai Patel National Police Academy at Hyderabad, he cautioned them to be aware of emerging "open-source intelligence." He also showed the audience aerial pictures of some of the sensitive locations in India.

"When you look deeper into it, you would realize that the specific laws in some countries, regarding spatial observations over their territory and UN recommendations about the display of spatial observations, are inadequate" he noted.

For entire story, click here.

Shitty Blogs

While browsing random blogs, I stumbled upon a post which talked about Shitty Blogs. Shitty Blogs is a new and supposedly clever (or so the makers think) website, which aims to review all the really bad blogs out there in Blogland (good luck with that, dudes!). It's title is, very originally, Shitty Blogs, and this is how they describe themselves:

Shitty Blogs features reviews of blogs that are really boring, stupid, or ugly.

I liked their reviews and mailed their mastermind, Horatio to review my love blog - moronsgospel. But what followed, wasn't pretty. He tore my blog apart and described me horny! So all of you, looking for a good laugh, click here to read the review.

Cheers!

We have new 007

The name's Bond. James Bond
.

This line has almost become a trite, but has always been associated with class and elegance! After Pierce Brosnan announced that Die Another Day would be his last outing in the famous tuxedo, the search was on to find his successor. Couple of days back, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Sony Pictures Entertainment, announced the arrival of new Bond Man. It is Daniel Craig, who takes over 007 mantle.

Craig will follow in the footsteps of previous Bond stars Pierce Brosnan, Sir Sean Connery, Sir Roger Moore, George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton. Daniel Craig has been cast in the role of the legendary British secret agent, James Bond, in the highly anticipated 007 adventure thriller Casino Royale.

Casino Royale will be the 21st James Bond film produced by the franchise holders, EON Productions. The MGM/Columbia Pictures production begins shooting in January and is due for release worldwide on November 17, 2006. It will be filmed in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the UK.

Bad Designs

We have bag full of products, which we use almost daily, but are badly designed. Here are few examples:

1. Mixer Lid

While operating the mixture the snaps as locking device are not sufficient enough to hold the lid of mixer jar. It needs an external force for keeping it on the jar. This keeps the operator engaged unnecessarily. Even though its not required to hold it in position and a separate jar is provided for this purpose, due to the requirement the user uses in his own way.


2. Console Indicator in Pulsar

The dashboard consol show a blinking light as an indication when left or right indicator is on. But it doesn’t provide which indicator is on as the arrow provided without any separation. The two arrows have a common light. So when the indicator is turned on this light is lit. What it conveys could be more suggestive by lighting only one-half. The user can get the feedback by seeing the actual knob or by seeing the actual light. But when the console is provided which is located in such a way he get to see all the information, this could be enhanced more.


3. ATM - Swallowing of cards

One feels insecure if the card is swallowed by the machine. On contrary user feels in control with swapping action since he still holds it than loosing it altogether. Swallowing is rather a systems requirement than a users’ preferred option. Moreover, if case of system failure, the card gets stuck inside and the user is frustrated in such scenarios. Users especially in rush hours forget to get card back, which puts them in difficult positions. The next person may take advantage of his position which could have been avoided.


4. Door Handle of Hyderabad Buses

The handle at the door of entrance of Hyderabad city buses are hidden inside making it difficult for the users to find the location. It should be more promptly seen and accessible. Most of the passengers especially in rush hours and in Indian scenario run and catch the bus.


And there are plenty of more such products, coming out of our daily lives and we being ignorant fools, continue using them. Need of the hour is, good design to facilitate usable products for the users.

Arpit.

Big Black Pencil

Wooden Wisdom has many takers and while surfing along Pencil Revolution, I came across very interesting website of Big Black Pencil, which say, Big Ideas come out of Big Pencils.

Visit the home of Big Black Pencil for one of the most coolest designed websites around. They say,

"Big black pencils are as much a part of Leo Burnett as
that ever-present bowl of crisp apples. Why? Because
Leo believed big ideas come out of big pencils."

Who is Leo Burnett? Well, Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 - June 7, 1971) was an advertising executive famous for creating such icons as the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, the Pillsbury Doughboy and Tony the Tiger.

Arpit.